My Life to LiveIndependence is a lot like a credit card; it feels great when you are spending with abandon, but when the interest catches up with you, the price is dear, and suddenly you don't seem so free anymore. My Life to Live--Vivre sa vie in French--is the story of a young woman named Nana (Anna Karina), whose financial struggles lead her from begging to minor theft and to prostitution. But even her descent is a path upon which Nana meets new people and gets something from them, be it money, fun, or wisdom. Nana's state of being is one of flux, and even this oldest of professions becomes stale in time.
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Shot in a cinéma vérité style, Jean-Luc Godard's My Life to Live follows Nana around from the cafes she frequents to her attempt at a straight job in a record store, and even to the hotel where she and the women of the night she works with operate from. Scenes like the very first one involving us staring at the back of her head and that of a former boyfriend she's trying to borrow some money from (always two thousand francs) make us feel like eavesdroppers on their conversation, and on Nana's life as a whole. The opening titles frame different angles of Nana's face, underscoring that My Life to Live is a film in which we are always watching Nana; that may include scrutinizing and judging her, or sympathizing with her, being attracted to her, or even resenting her. In this, My Life to Live ironically treats Nana like anything from an "object" to a work of art, just as her johns see her, although closer scrutiny reveals that the film is in fact a character analysis. Nana's fortune sways like a pendulum, back and forth. From the start, she is trying to scrape by so she may buy her way back into her own apartment, trying to bum money off of her coworkers. When she gets picked up by the police for theft, she plays on the cop's sympathies by admitting to trying to conceal the one thousand francs the plaintiff dropped, implying she is in dire straits. When a man asks her if she "wants to", probing to see if she's a prostitute, up to this point there's no sense that Nana had even considered the option, but she is quick enough to consider the opportunity to make some money. Nana doesn't enjoy her first encounter--the reason being that she's not in control of the arrangements, of the action. Nana's true sense of worth comes from the feeling that she is empowered, that she's capable enough to buck the system and command her own fate, a sentiment which is alternately arrogant and confident. When she writes the letter to the madame of a brothel asking for work, her diction is filled with passivity, as if begging for the madame to accept her with the promise that she will perform. When Nana become acquainted with the varied elements of the business, she flourishes into a confident woman, maneuvering scenarios like the one in the pool hall to seduce her prospective clients, having a good time in the process. For a moment, Nana is the woman calling the shots, soaking up the attention in the center ring.
My Life to Live opens with a quote by Michel de Montaigne, stating that you should "loan yourself to others, but keep yourself for yourself", an attitude Nana appears to hold as her maxim. But is Nana truly free, or is she desperate to convince herself that she is? Nana never seems to have any sense of control over her finances. Though she seems to enjoy the sense of control and commissions as a prostitute, it is still one born from desperation, when she had run out of options. It is when her friend, Yvette (Guylaine Schlumberger), introduces her to her pimp, Raoul (Sady Rebbot), that she is sold on the idea--but even here she is essentially recruited, scalped for the job, and not a position she entered solely on her own accord. Nana carries on a conversation with an older gentleman in a cafe about the similarities between an "error" and a "lie", when she says she can't think of what to say. It recalls something she says early on, about how she can't seem to figure out how to "deliver a line" to someone, as though her life were a stage. Nana enjoys going to the movies, and is especially struck by seeing The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Nana identifies with Joan, and perhaps tells herself that she is also a victim of a patriarchal society which cannot or will not tolerate her independent spirit and desire to shake off the shackles of a system designed to exploit her then throw her away. Alternately, this may be just another means for her to justify this conviction of hers, an excuse for her to shirk her responsibilities and fall increasingly deeper into debt, forced into disreputable and--what she later describes as--degrading work. As tears fall from Joan's face on the screen, so does Nana's face mirror her expression and the accompanying tears, as though she were rehearsing, crafting a persona for herself to aid her in claiming her desires. Nana is thoroughly modern, a young woman who is still discovering life; when the old man asks her if she's read "The Three Musketeers", she comments that she saw the movie. Her story is told over a series of twelve chapters, each something like a dime store fiction serial, a series of episodes conveying elements both social and disposable. They are also steps, movements going forward in Nana's life, as each one leaves her a little bit more mature with the world, even if there are stumbles along the way.
Recommended for: Fans of naturalistic drama which avoids being easily categorized as a feminist fable or a morality play, largely by the objectivity of the direction as well as the compelling verisimilitude of Nana.
My Life to Live opens with a quote by Michel de Montaigne, stating that you should "loan yourself to others, but keep yourself for yourself", an attitude Nana appears to hold as her maxim. But is Nana truly free, or is she desperate to convince herself that she is? Nana never seems to have any sense of control over her finances. Though she seems to enjoy the sense of control and commissions as a prostitute, it is still one born from desperation, when she had run out of options. It is when her friend, Yvette (Guylaine Schlumberger), introduces her to her pimp, Raoul (Sady Rebbot), that she is sold on the idea--but even here she is essentially recruited, scalped for the job, and not a position she entered solely on her own accord. Nana carries on a conversation with an older gentleman in a cafe about the similarities between an "error" and a "lie", when she says she can't think of what to say. It recalls something she says early on, about how she can't seem to figure out how to "deliver a line" to someone, as though her life were a stage. Nana enjoys going to the movies, and is especially struck by seeing The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Nana identifies with Joan, and perhaps tells herself that she is also a victim of a patriarchal society which cannot or will not tolerate her independent spirit and desire to shake off the shackles of a system designed to exploit her then throw her away. Alternately, this may be just another means for her to justify this conviction of hers, an excuse for her to shirk her responsibilities and fall increasingly deeper into debt, forced into disreputable and--what she later describes as--degrading work. As tears fall from Joan's face on the screen, so does Nana's face mirror her expression and the accompanying tears, as though she were rehearsing, crafting a persona for herself to aid her in claiming her desires. Nana is thoroughly modern, a young woman who is still discovering life; when the old man asks her if she's read "The Three Musketeers", she comments that she saw the movie. Her story is told over a series of twelve chapters, each something like a dime store fiction serial, a series of episodes conveying elements both social and disposable. They are also steps, movements going forward in Nana's life, as each one leaves her a little bit more mature with the world, even if there are stumbles along the way.
Recommended for: Fans of naturalistic drama which avoids being easily categorized as a feminist fable or a morality play, largely by the objectivity of the direction as well as the compelling verisimilitude of Nana.